my dog is a miniature schnauzer that we adopted a couple of years ago. She's somewhere around 5-7 years old, and very friendly. Since we've gotten her, she's slowly gotten more and more jumpy and nervous, and it's getting to be a bit extreme - beeping noises and vibrations from cell phones especially can cause her to shake for anywhere from 1-10 minutes. It's gotten so bad that when my mom brings the groceries in, she starts freaking out because she knows my mom uses a scanner on them to record what she bought, and the beeping from the scanner scares her. Is there anything besides a medication that we can use to help her, and how should we react to her when she starts shaking?

Harsh as this sounds, don't fuss or mollycoddle her. Get your mum to tell you when she's going to be back (when she's in the driveway for example) and take your dog into a separate room with a bag of treats. Start a training session with her, making her sit, lie down, stay etc. and rewarding her with a treat each time. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

If she starts getting distracted (if she hears the scanner etc) make a high-pitched happy voice (as if saying "let's go get ice cream" to a small child) and try get her excited and interested in the training again. If she can't, or wasn't interested from the start, walk her out into the garden and try interact with her out there. If she manages to stay focus and not become anxious about the scanner, give her lots of praise and get your mum to praise her too.

Do this every time something like that happens, and gradually try move her closer to the room where the shopping is being scanned. If she becomes scared distract her and move her a little further away, then begin asking her to sit, lie whatever again.

If none of that works and the shaking continues to get worse and really upsets her, you might want to ask your vet about a dog behavioural specialist to help her.

Good luck :)

work at an animal shelter with dogs

i think they do shake, just cuddle her, make her feel safe, you dont know what the poor little thing has been through,it took my lab two years to trust me, now hes my best friend, my bossy boots and his nerves have gone, it will take time, like humans if you are hurt once its harder to trust, give her time prove you are loyal, she will get there so will youxx